Battling a 27 percent decline in domestic ticket sales compared with before the pandemic, studios left no marketing drum unthumped in releasing the movies.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s "Wicked" is dominating Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington’s “Gladiator II” this weekend at the domestic box office.

Between them, the two very different Thanksgiving tentpoles are capturing almost every adult demo, reminiscent of Barbenheimer.

Wicked and Gladiator II are both off to a strong start at the box office; however, it won’t be as big of an opening weekend as Barbenheimer. Wicked and Gladiator II are both now playing in United States theaters.

Wicked” and “Gladiator II” both drew less in Thursday previews than their “Barbenheimer” counterparts, but are still expected to help the fall box office.

Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend,

As most have by now picked up, two disparate, big-budget films are sharing a release date: One, an R-rated historical epic stacked with a starry cast of Oscar hopefuls. The other, a musical based on a beloved property with plenty of

Whether “ Wicked ” and “ Gladiator II ” inspires an unorthodox double feature à la last summer’s simultaneous blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” remains a question. Either way, there’s a box office battle brewing between Universal’s pink-and-green musical and Paramount’s bloody sword-and-sandal epic, both of which open on Friday.